American College of Lifestyle Medicine Presents Award of Excellence to Lithuanian University of Health Sciences for Europe's First Lifestyle Medicine Master's Program
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) awarded its inaugural Award of Excellence to the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania, for developing Europe's first master's degree program in Lifestyle Medicine. The award was presented recently at ACLM's largest annual international conference to date, with a registration of more than 1,500, at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, FL.
ST. LOUIS, Dec. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), celebrating its 15th anniversary, awarded its inaugural Award of Excellence to the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania, for the groundbreaking work and outstanding achievement by its Public Health faculty in establishing Europe's first Master's Degree of Lifestyle Medicine (Health Sciences).
The award was presented during ACLM's annual conference in Orlando, FL to the university for its master of health sciences degree program in Lifestyle Medicine, the first program of its kind in all of Europe.
The year-and-a-half program trains students to help people implement needed lifestyle changes in diet, exercise, risky behaviors and psycho-emotional resilience; evaluate the risk of harmful habits and addictions; identify and assess environmental, lifestyle, psychological and biological health risk factors; and prioritize the importance of lifestyle in health strategy and policies
"This program brings together the best in traditional community-focused public health with the best in person-oriented health care," said ACLM President Dexter Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, FACLM, DipABLM. "We are delighted to celebrate our fifteenth anniversary by presenting our new award to the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, recognizing its groundbreaking program that has led the way in public health education worldwide."
The award was presented October 27th at ACLM's awards banquet, a highlight of its annual CME-accredited conference. This year's conference was the organization's largest ever, with 1,500 attendees from 36 nations who gathered at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, FL.
"On behalf of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences School of Public Health, I'm delighted that our master's program in Lifestyle Medicine--Europe's first--has been recognized by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine with its inaugural Award of Excellence," said Dean Ramune Kalediene, MD. "The World Health Organization recognizes lifestyle-related noncommunicable disease as the looming global pandemic. Our institution in Lithuania, through its Lifestyle Medicine training program, is on the forefront of training the next generation of healthcare professionals."
Lifestyle Medicine is the use of a whole food, plant-predominant dietary lifestyle, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances and positive social connection as a primary therapeutic modality for treatment and reversal of chronic disease. Around the world, physicians and other health professionals are learning about this fastest growing medical specialty that treats the root cause of chronic disease.
Margarete Ezinwa, director of the Lifestyle Medicine Global Alliance, said she applauds the awardees for their global achievement.
"Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, and Lithuania as a nation, is a global leading light in Lifestyle Medicine in education, policy development and healthy lifestyle integration. As they train the next generation in disease reversal and prevention, they will be benefitting the health and wealth of their entire community. Congratulations!"
The Lithuanian Lifestyle Medicine Association is a member of the Lifestyle Medicine Global Alliance.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE: ACLM is the medical professional society for those dedicated to the advancement and clinical practice of Lifestyle Medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable health care system. Lifestyle Medicine is the use of a whole food, plant-predominant dietary lifestyle, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances and positive social connection as a primary therapeutic modality for treatment and reversal of chronic disease.
More than a professional association, ACLM is a galvanized force for change. ACLM addresses the need for quality education and certification, supporting its members in their individual practices and in their collective mission to domestically and globally promote Lifestyle Medicine as the first treatment option, as opposed to a first option of treating symptoms and consequences with expensive, ever increasing quantities of pills and procedures. ACLM members are united in their desire to identify and eradicate the root cause of disease. Learn more at http://www.LifestyleMedicine.org.
SOURCE American College of Lifestyle Medicine
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